Feeler mechanism for looms



Felt-18, 1930. J, w, s s 1,747,992

FEELER MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Jan 28, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Q 7 n //v l fN TOR! Feb. 18, 1930. J. w. SIMPSON FEELER MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Jan 28, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTOR/VEY Patented Feb. 18,1930

UNITED: STATES PATENT orrlcr.

' JESSE W; SIMPSON, ANDERSON, SOUTH OABOLIN A, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER CORPORA- Q TION, F 'HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION OF MAINE rnn nnn MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Application filed. January 28, .1929. Serial No. 335,717.

Thisj invention relates tov feeler mechanism for' looms and more particularly tofeeler mechanisms of the side slipping type wherein byside slipping movement of the feeler upon the} occurrence ofsubstantial exhaustion of filling a changejis-ef'fected in the loom operation, such, for instance, as filling replemshnt 4 y I i In feelermechanisms of the side slipping type the feeler is given its side slipping movement onysubstantial exhaustion of filling,either:y by frontward pressure upon the feeler or by mechanical means, such, for instance, asga spring. In such feeler mecha- 7 ;The invention nisms there is a constantly increasing tendency tofimpartto the feeler its side slipping movement; as'thev lay advances in'the beatupland. this'tendency is augmented when thefeeler itself holds a working supply of fillingin the shuttle on a detecting beat, with theresult that at times filling replenishment ma yl be called even" though a W rkingv sup- 7 ply; of filling is present in the shuttle. As

the filling is gradually withdrawn from the shuttlexthe. tendency for side slipping movement gradually decreases until, when the filling is substantially exhausted, this tendencygis at a minimum. This variation in tendencyfor sideslipping movement of the feeler as above outlined is just the opposite of what; is desired'in the ideal feeler mechanism.;f

i ,Should the feeler call for a change offfilling; due to the increased stress upon the feeler 1 exerted by aworking supply, of filling in thejshuttle, on a detecting beatmuch waste offyarn-or filling would result. a

One-ofthe important features of the pres enft invention is to provide a side slipping feeler mechanismfor; looms in which the feelermay be prevented from side slipping movement-when a working supply of filling is present in the shuttle and be permitted filling has become nearly/or substantially e hau t d, v Y 1 and novel features thereof 7 'will; best be made clear from the following description and the accompanying drawings ofone; good practical form thereof.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a feeler mechanism containing the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the relation of parts when the feeler is moved frontward- 1y by a working supply of filling in the shuttle; and I I Fig. 3 is a similar plan view showing the relation of parts when the feeler detects substantial exhaustion of filling in the shuttle.

The feeler mechanism of the present invention is associated with means for changing the loom operation when the feeler side slips on a detecting beat, and more particularly to efiect replenishment of fillingin the shuttle at such times, but since'the fillingreplenishing mechanism may be of any usual construction and its details form no part of the present invention it is not necessary herein to illustrate it and describe it.

. The loom frame may be of anyusual construction and have extending therefrom the shipper stand 1 from which projects the supporting arm 2 to which the feeler mechaand be secured in adjustable position thereon by means of a bolt 6 extending through a slot 7 formed in the feeler stand, and in this case the bracket 5 will be secured to the loom frame by the "bolt 4, as usual in this type ofmechanism. I

, The feeler stand 3 is herein shown as formed of a plate the rear end portion of which has an upwardly extending flange 8 provided with an opening 9 through which the feeler 10 extends, and the opening 9 is of such dimension as to permit the feeler to have both movement towards and from the front ofthe loom and also in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle. I

The feeler 10 is preferably formed as a wire of suificient rigidity, although, of course, its construction may be varied in this particular, and as shown, the rear end portion of thefeeler 10, that is, the part which con- Mounted on the feeler stand 3 is the fulcrum stop 12 against which the rearwardly extending portion of the feeler bears and about which the feeler turns as a fulcrum when it partakes of its side slipping movement.

In accordance with the present invention, the feeler has an extension or arm projecting frontwardly of the fulcrum stop 12, and where the feeler is formed of wire-like material, as shown, the .said projection or arm may be formed by extending the body of the feeler frontwardly and turning it or bending it, as at 13, and in order to limit the rearward movement of the feeler into its feeling position the main body portion of the feeler is provided with a projection 14 which may also, if desired, be constituted as a bend in the body of the feeler material. The projection or arm leads frontwardly from the fulcrum stop and is carried rearwardly from the bend 13, as at 15, and its rear end portion 16 is con nected to one end of a spring 17, the other end of which is connected at 18 to a support 19 so that the stress of the spring is exerted upon the feeler in a rearward and lateral direction on a line passing back of the fulcrumstop 12 when the feeler 1s 1n'1ts rearward feeling position, so that the action of'the spring 17 not only moves the feeler to its feeling position but when in feeling position stresses the feeler to hold it in the position indicated in Fig. 1.

When the feeler is moved frontwardly on movement of the feeler increases progressively as the lay moves frontwardly on a detecting beat, and since, when a working supply of filling is present in the shuttle, this tendency to side swipe movement of the feeler is proportionately increased, the present invention provides that when the feeler is moved frontwardly by a working supply of filling in the shuttle on a detecting beat that the increased tendency of the'spring to impart si-de slipping movement to the feeler will be prevented from effecting such movement, thereby preventing a call for change of filling when a working supply still remainsin the i shuttle. To effect this prevention of side slipping movement of the feeler under the conditions stated, afeeler side slipping stop is employed which is engagedby the feeler when the latter is moved frontwardly by a Working supply of filling'in the'shuttle.

In the present instance of the invention, the

feeler side slipping stop is supported upon the feeler stand frontward of the end or bent portion 13 of the feeler and, as shown, is

constituted by an arm 18 secured to the feeler stand by abolt '19 or similar means and where the feeler side slipping stop is formed of light 1 material, such as wire, in the present instance,

ed as 24, and where the stop is formed of ma- Y I terial such as wire it may be bent at the connection with the arm 18, as shown. Of course the feeler side slipping stop may bevariously contrived but the form shown constitutes a good practical embodiment of this feature of the invention, and the rear endportion of the stop 24 may be appropriately beveled, as-at 25, so that in'case the frontwardly extending portion of the feeler should contact withthe end of the'stop as the feeler moves 'front' wardly, it will slide offithe end of'thest'op and not cause breakage or distortion of any of the parts. Injury of the feeler side slip-- ping stop by the forwardmovement of the feeler in a direction to cause the feeler end'1'3 to strike against the end 25 of'the stop 24 is further prevented by the yielding pivotal mount-ing ofthe arm 18 and stop 24, whereby the latter may yield 'frontwardly incase its end 25 is struck by the forwardly moving feeler.

As more clearly indicated in Fig. 2, the hunt of rearward movement of the feeler under the action of the rearwardly and laterally inclined spring 17 may be effected by the 4 115 bent portion or shoulder 14 formed on the main part of the feeler, the construction being such that when the feeler is in its rearward feeling position thestress of the spring 17 will not onlyhold it in its rearward feeling position but act in a direction back of the fulcrum stop, as indicated inFig'. 1, to maintain the feeler in its proper backward position with the main body of the feeler; resting against the wall-at one end of the opening 9, as indicated in Fig. 1. 1

As usual in side slipping feeler mechanisms for looms, the side slipping action of the feeler is utilized through a train of mechanism to effect replenishment offilling, and in the present instance of the invention the feeler stand is provided with a perforated lug V which the shuttle 31 may rest on the detecting ping movement of the feeler, the latter will,

i and calling a chan beat of the lay. The front wall of the shuttle box and the front wall 32 of the shuttle may be appropriately provided with openings, such as 33, as usual in this class of looms, for the entrance of the feeler on a detecting beat. As usual, also, the shuttle has mounted there in the filling carrier or bobbin 34 by means ofthe usual bobbinholding springs 35, and on the bobbin 34 the filling 36 is wound.

1 During the loom operation with a working supply of filling in the shuttle, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the feeler will be moved frontwardly and the spring 17 will exert a constantly increasing tendency to move the feeler longitudinally of the shuttle or cause it to side slip, and when the stress of the spring 1'? is approaching itsmaximum, the frontwardly extending arm of the feeler will engage at the side of the feeler side slipping stop 24, with the result that during the maximum tendency of the spring to cause side slipbe positively prevented from side'slipping e c when a working supply offilling is in the shuttle. As the filling is withdrawn from the shuttle during weaving,

that portion thereof which is engaged by the feeler. will gradually become less and less in diameter until, when the filling is substantially exhausted, as indicated in Fig. 3, the frontwardly extending feeler arm will not be moved frontwardly sufliciently far to engage the feeler side slipping stop, with the result that the feeler will side slip and call for replenishment of filling.

The invention described as a good practical form thereof thus effectively prevents a change of filling and consequent waste when the shuttle contains a working supply of filling, because the frontwardly extending arm portion of the feeler engages the feeler side slipping stop and regardless of the tendency v of the feeler to side slip, such movement will be prevented. When, however, the filling has become substantially exhausted, the feeler will not be moved frontwardly far enough to cause its frontwardly extending arm to engage the feeler side slipping stop, as indicated in Fig( 2, and the feeler will there upon side slip and effect replenishment of filling. Y I During the movement of the feeler towards I and from the front of the loom it will bear upon the fulcrum stop 12 and when the feeler side slips it will partake of such movement about the fulcrum stop as a center, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. 1

What is'claimed is 1. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping feeler mounted on the feeler stand, a fulcrum stop for the feeler, an arm extending frontwardly from the feeler beyond the fulcrum stop, a spring acting laterally and rearwardly upon the feelerrearward of the fulcrum'stop when the feeler is in rearward feeling position and frontward of the fulcrum stop when the feeler is moved frontwardly to then impart a tendency for the feeler to side slip, and a stop positioned to cooperate with said arm for preventing side slipping movement of the feeler when it'is moved frontwardly a predetermined distance from its feeling position.

2. In a feeler mechanism for looms, :the combination of a feeler stand, a side slipping feeler mounted on the feeler stand, a spring acting upon the feeler with a tendency to move the feeler longitudinally of the shuttle on a detecting beat, a feeler side slipping stop engaged by the feeler when it is moved frontwardly a predetermined distance by a working supply of filling in the shuttle to prevent side slipping movement of the feeler, andmeans for supporting said stop for move ment out of the path of the feeler when it is struck by the forwardly moving feeler.

3. Ina feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a feeler mounted directly on the feeler stand for side slipping movement, a fulcrum stop against which the feeler bears and turns, a spring connected to the feeler and acting on the feeler in a rearwardly inclined direction back of thefulcrum stopwhen the feeler is in rearward feeling position and frontward of the fulcrum stop when the feeleris moved frontwardly on a detecting beat to thereby exert a tendency for the feeler to side slip, and a feeler side slipping stop positioned to be engaged by the front end portion of the feeler to prevent side slipping movement'of the feeler as it is moved frontwardly by a working supply of filling in the shuttle.

4. In afeeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler mounted for movement towards and from the front of the loom and in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle, a feeler side slipping stop which is engaged by the feeler in case it is moved frontwardly by a working supply of filling in the shuttle on a detecting beat to prevent side slipping movement of the feeler while a working supply of filling is in the shuttle, and means for supporting said stop or swinging movement out of the path of the feeler when it is struck by the frontwardly moving feeler.

5. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the

combination of a feeler mounted for movement toward-s and from the front "of the loomand in a direction longit'udinallypf the shuttle, a fulcrum stop against which the feeler bears and turns, and a feeler side slipping stop mounted frontwardly of the ful=- crum'stop in positionto be engaged by the feeler in case it is moved frontwardly by a Working supply of filling inthe shuttle on a detecting beat to prevent side slipping movement of the feeler while a working supply of filling is in the shuttle.

6. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the combination of a feeler mounted for movement towards and from the front of the loom and in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle, a feeler side slipping stop which is engaged by the feeler in case it'is moved frontwardly by a working supply of filling in the shuttle on a detecting beat to. prevent side slipping movement of the feelenwhile a working supply of filling is in the shuttle, and means for supporting said stop so that it may yield sufficiently to prevent injury by the forward movement of the feeler.

combination of a feeler mounted for movement toward and from the front of the loom and in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle, a fulcrum stop about which the feeler turns when it side slips, an arm on the feeler extending fron'tward of the fulcrum stop, and a feeler'side slipping stop adapted to be engaged by the feeler arm to prevent side slipping movement of the feeler when it is moved frontwardly by a working supply of filling on a detecting beat.

' 8. In a feeler mechanism of the side slipping type, a feeler having a single point filllng engaging end and mounted for side slipping movement, a fulcrum stop, an arm on the feeler extending frontward of the ful crum stop, a feeler side slipping stop which is engaged by the feeler arm only when the feeler is moved frontwardly by a working supply of filling on a detecting beat that the feeler may partake of its side slipping movement vwhen the filling is substantially exhausted on a detecting beat and be prevented from side slipping movement when the feeler is moved frontwardlyby a working supply of filling, v

In testimony whereof, I have signed my nameto this specification. I

JESSE W; SIMPSON.

7. In a feeler mechanism for looms, the V 

